The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) currently faces minimal opposition in both Houses of Parliament as 49 members were suspended on Tuesday, adding to the suspension of 79 Opposition MPs in a single day.
Including both Houses, this brings the total number of MPs suspended during this session to 141, marking the highest in parliamentary history.
Prominent leaders who faced suspension include National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Karti Chidambaram, NCP's Supriya Sule, and Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla imposed the suspensions in response to the disruption of proceedings.
Why are the MPs suspended?
The MPs in both Houses were suspended for disrupting Parliamentary proceedings while protesting last week’s Parliament security breach.
In Lok Sabha, the Opposition demanded a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah. Some MPs waved placards with their demands.
In Rajya Sabha, the Opposition raised slogans on the Parliament breach and disrupted proceedings.
On December 13, chaos ensued in Lok Sabha as two individuals infiltrated, shouting slogans and releasing coloured gas. The breach coincided with the 22nd anniversary of a deadly 2001 terrorist attack on India's parliament, resulting in 14 deaths, including five attackers.
How many opposition MPs are left?
The Lok Sabha has a total strength of 543 MPs, but with 21 seats vacant, the current membership is 522.
Out of these, 323 belong to either the BJP or allied parties. Among the remaining 199 seats for the opposition, 67% of the MPs have been suspended. This leaves only 47 opposition lawmakers still participating in the proceedings of the Lower House.
Shifting to the Rajya Sabha, there are now fewer than 100 opposition MPs available to question the ruling party.
Lok Sabha Takes Up New Criminal Laws with 2/3rd Opposition Missing.
In the Lok Sabha, with two-thirds of the opposition suspended (95 MPs), the government is pushing new criminal laws.
The bills aim to replace existing criminal laws and were reintroduced last week as Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023. Despite the reduced opposition, these bills were considered on Tuesday afternoon.
Is suspending MPs common practice?
Suspending MPs, though a significant measure, is not rare. However, there has been an increase in suspensions in recent years.
Since 2019, there have been at least 149 suspensions across both Houses, compared to at least 81 in 2014-19 and at least 36 in 2009-14.
India Alliance to hold nationwide protest on December 22.
The opposition INDIA bloc will hold a nationwide protest on December 22 against the recent suspensions of MPs, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on December 19 following a meeting of the allied parties.
The fourth meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) witnessed the participation of 28 parties in total.
